


Off Duty

by Zilchtastic



Category: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-06
Updated: 2010-02-06
Packaged: 2017-10-07 02:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zilchtastic/pseuds/Zilchtastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reno is wearing jeans so faded and ripped they're barely there anymore-- they're like a suggestion of the shape of jeans, interrupted by flashes of Reno's pale skin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off Duty

The thing about Reno is that even after all this time, he still thinks he's immortal.

You'd think he'd have learned otherwise by now. He's had every rib broken at least once-- some twice. His right arm, left leg, and right ankle have been fractured, once each. He's been electrocuted, shot, stabbed, beaten, strangled, and almost-drowned. He's seen more explosions than a wrecking crew, and once he actually got _thrown out of a window_ of a very high building. Rude points all this out to him one night over beer.

"Yeah, but I've never been in a car accident," is Reno's response.

"You don't own a _car_," Rude reminds him.

It's like talking to a brick wall.

Over at the bar, Tifa is eyeing them warily as she wipes the counter with more vigor than is really necessary. Rude knows that for Tifa, the past is the past. He also knows that she won't let Turks near the door unless she gets to pat them down for weapons first. Reno has accused Rude of coming to Seventh Heaven so often just for the pat-downs, but it's Reno who always makes a show of it, purring _Ooh, baby_ when Tifa demands he keep his hands against the wall.

"Hey, will you quit watching Tifa's boobs jiggle for a sec and listen to me?" Reno says, overloud. Rude just catches Tifa's outraged look as he turns his head back to his partner. Reno is grinning, arms crossed over his chest as he leans back in his chair.

"I heard every word you said," Rude snorts as he picks up his beer. "Unlike you, I can concentrate on two things at once."

"You mean three things?" Reno says, and Rude just rolls his eyes.

They're off-duty tonight, so off-duty that they aren't even in uniform. It's been ages since Rude has worn an outfit that didn't include a tie, and he feels vaguely uncomfortable. Okay, so he's still wearing a jacket. He doesn't own many casual clothes. But underneath he's sporting a plain black t-shirt, and as a nod to Reno's insistence on "civvies", he's left his jacket undone.

Reno is wearing jeans so faded and ripped they're barely there anymore-- they're like a suggestion of the shape of jeans, interrupted by flashes of Reno's pale skin. His boots are the black ones he always wears, even with his suit, but his t-shirt looks brand new. It's dark green, and has MIDGAR CITY ROCKS printed across the chest in yellow. The green of the shirt picks up the maybe-green of his eyes, makes them look vivid even in the low lights of the bar. Rude thinks that Reno looks incredibly strange, undefined by the starkness of black and white. He could be any handsome, flashy young punk, out for a night on the town.

Reno is peeling the label off his beer bottle in annoying little strands. The only thing that keeps Rude from whisking the little pile of them off the table is Tifa's hard stare. As if she doesn't have enough to sweep up already, he figures.

"You keep watching the door," Reno says, suddenly. He doesn't bother to look up.

"Habit," Rude says.

"No one's gonna come in and shoot us, partner."

_You don't know that,_ Rude wants to protest. Instead he says, "Sometimes I wonder how you've managed to stay alive this long."

Reno sweeps his hand through the soggy paper-pile, scattering it on the floor. "Death can kiss my sexy ass." He says it like it really means something, like Death will be listening and will take him seriously. He looks up, eyes wide and bright. "Hey, you wanna go someplace else? There's this warehouse down on Second that has a fucking party all weekend long--"

"Just wanna go home," Rude says, and Reno's face falls. Rude lets him wallow in his disappointment for a few before he adds, "I've got a case of Mideel Gold in the fridge. We can finish up there."

It shouldn't make his stomach go warm, the way Reno's face lights up.

"And after that?"

Rude tips his head back to drain the last of his beer. He feels Reno's eyes on him, all eagerness. It makes him smile.

"We'll see," he says, and Reno's grin says he knows exactly what that means.


End file.
